Submitted by drew on

 

After playing around a bit, I found that the same theme can work on both Windows 7 and Windows 8. 
 
Notes for Windows 8: New for Win8 is the ability to use a panoramic image-- Windows will span the image across multiple monitors. Really cool! Win8 themes also have the ability to automatically define a color scheme, based on the colors of the wallpaper, and apply the color scheme on the fly.
 
Notes for Windows 7: The theme works best if you have a single monitor, or the wallpaper image is the same size as all monitors. A panoramic wallpaper image will even work on Windows 7 when tilemode is turned on and the image is the same size as the primary display. (It appears to display on the first monitor starting at the upper left corner or the image, and display on the second monitor starting at the upper right corner of the image.)
 
Notes for Windows Vista: The same theme will even work on Windows Vista, with a few caveats.
  • The wallpaper images can't be PNG; export them to JPG and they will work.
  • Vista doesn't have a built-in way to change the wallpaper on a timer. If you want it to change the wallpaper, use a wallpaper changer (aka background switcher), such as http://johnsadventures.com/software/backgroundswitcher/ (this one even has a smooth fade transition).
 
Notes for Windows XP: I didn't try it, but I think XP theme files are totally different.
 
Normally, a theme is designed in the Windows 8 Personalization control panel. When you save it from there, it is packaged into a CAB file with a .deskthemepack extension. So you can rename it to .cab and extract the .theme file from it, for editing. In my case, I am installing parts of this theme to various subfolders of the Windows directory. This places the theme under the "Installed Themes" grouping within the Personalization control panel (i.e. the theme chooser window).
%SystemRoot%\Branding\<BrandLogo>.png (240X80)
%SystemRoot%\Web\Wallpaper\<ThemeName>\*.png
%SystemRoot%\Resources\Themes\<ThemeName>.theme
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\User Account Pictures\*.png (Vista: 128x128)
 
There are a few differences between a Windows Vista/7 and Windows 8 theme. I am just going to show the ones that apply to our task at hand. 
 
[Theme]
; ...snip....
; I'm not sure what this is used for, but commenting it out doesn't seem to do any harm
;ThemeId={74DCED71-1D8E-44CE-9422-4713809E000C}
 
[Control Panel\Desktop]
; ...snip....
; Windows 7
TileWallpaper=0
WallpaperStyle=10
; Windows 8
MultimonBackgrounds=0
PicturePosition=4
 
[VisualStyles]
; ...snip....
; Windows 8
AutoColorization=1
 
[MasterThemeSelector]
; Windows 7 (themes with this identifier still work on Windows 8)
MTSM=DABJDKT
; Windows 8 (themes with this idendifier do NOT work on Win7, so we'll comment it out
;MTSM=RJSPBS
 
Tags
Windows

Traffic Question 15: Mailing a letter

Submitted by drew on

Traffic Question 15:

During a period of heavy traffic, you want to mail a letter and then head in the direction of the pink arrow. How do you do it?

  1. Stop at Mailbox A, then do a U turn
  2. Park in a spot near Mailbox A, then turn left out of the parking lot
  3. Use Mailbox A, then use the left turn lane at the intersection to do a legal U turn
  4. Turn right at the main street, turn left into the parking lot for Mailbox B, then go through the intersection in the desired direction

Traffic Question 14: A traffic light turns yellow and you’re not quite going to make it through before it turns red... what do you do?

Submitted by drew on

Traffic Question 14:

A traffic light turns yellow and you’re not quite going to make it through before it turns red... what do you do?

  1. Stomp on the gas pedal and zoom through
  2. Continue through the intersection without any change in speed
  3. Wait until the last second and then stomp on the brake
  4. Start coming to a gradual stop immediately
  5. None of the above

Traffic Question 9: If you get a phone call while you’re driving, what do you do?

Submitted by drew on

traffic-09q.pngTraffic Question 9: If you get a phone call while you’re driving, what do you do?

A. Answer it right away

B. Wait until you get to a stop light and call back.

C. Stop at a stop sign and call back.

D. See who it is. If you think it might be an emergency, park the car in a designated parking area and then call back.

(Yes, this is pretty similar to #2 If you get a text while you’re driving... The main difference is, texting on the phone is illegal whereas talking on the phone is legal. At least in Moline.)

Traffic Question 12: Which of the following are factors in whether or not a vehicle is going to be slower than normal?

Submitted by drew on

Traffic Question 12:

Which of the following are factors in whether or not a vehicle is going to be slower than normal?

* Car is Buick, Cadillac, or similar type

* One or more children are present

* Vehicle is a minivan

* Age of driver is over 60

* Handicapped license plates

* Driver is using cell phone

* Vehicle is a "sporty" color

* Driver is female

Traffic Quiz 6: Is it possible to back out of a driveway and use only one lane?

Submitted by drew on

traffic-06q.pngTraffic Question 6:

The blue dots indicate the path used to pull IN the driveway.

Is it possible to back out of a driveway and head in the direction indicated by the pink arrow, using only one lane of the road?

A. No, one lane is not enough room.

B. Yes, it can be done in one lane.